House of Hades
by justawkwardlystandingthere
Summary: Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus and everyone feels like it's their fault. Jason's facing a crisis, should he save Annabeth and Percy first, or take the Athena Parthenos back to Camp? Will Percy and Annabeth be captured by Gaea, or will they make it out of Tartarus alive? More importantly will they still be sane if they get out? Rated T for violence. Percabeth, Jasper and Frazel.
1. Chapter 1

Percy was aware of one thing, and one thing only, he was falling towards his death and he was falling fast. The fall itself didn't scare him, heck he had jumped out of the St. Louis Arch before! No, what worried him was the darkness. The never ending blanket of blackness that engulfed them, almost suffocating them, making it hard to breath. He didn't have many fears, but he _was_ claustrophobic, and in the darkness Percy was starting to panic. He felt absolutely useless, and he had failed. He and Annabeth were hurtling towards Tartarus and there was nothing he could about it.

_Annabeth._ Her name set off alarm bells in his head. She had been through so much already, following an impossible quest by herself and facing Arachne alone with a broken ankle. Guilt washed over Percy, what was he going to do? He couldn't just relax and wait for them to hit the ground.

Percy desperately tried to think of a way to stop their fall, he tried manipulating any water that there was at the bottom, but he couldn't feel any. That made him panic a little more, _what were they going to drink_? He wished he were Jason or Frank, being able to fly would really help him right now. Even Leo could build some kind of contraption to stop their fall and Nico could just shadow-travel them to the bottom. But he wasn't any of the others, he was just stupid, dangerously-impulsive Percy, and he really sucked at coming up with life-saving ideas.

Since when did he plan for anything anyway? It used to be that when something dangerous was happening to him his only thoughts were something along the lines of _AGGHHH!_ He groaned, Annabeth must be rubbing off on him more then he thought. He squinted over in her direction, he couldn't see her face, but he could barely make out the outline of her body against the darkness. She was muttering something, numbers he realized. Of course she was, she was keeping track of how long they had been falling. Percy smiled to himself, yup, that was his Wise Girl.

Gods she was beautiful. He didn't know how long he just lay there staring at her, but it must have been a long time because before Percy knew it they were feet from the ground. He panicked. He couldn't let her get hurt anymore. In the split second before they hit the bottom Percy pulled himself under Annabeth with all of his strength, and braced for the impact.


	2. Chapter 2

**Jason**

Jason was having a bad day. Well "a bad day" was kind of putting it lightly. First, he almost drowned in some cursed black water, then he almost died again while he was fighting two twin giants. Worst of all he watched his cousin and his cousin's girlfriend get pulled into Tartarus by a giant spider, all because of some stupid statue.

Jason knew everyone else on the ship probably felt the same way, but he still felt guilty. He was the guy with the awesome flying powers,(as Leo put it), he should have helped them, or saved them, or..., or done something! Instead all he managed to do was secure some stupid, giant statue that still seemed like a waste of time, even if it was the Athena Parthenos. Now that Percy was gone everyone else looked to Jason to lead them. There was a time when Jason would have been happy to be in charge, but right now he felt like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. _How on earth could Percy handle all of this pressure?_ Jason felt like he was going to implode, and he had only been in charge for a couple hours. Whenever he was around Percy, he always felt inferior, and unimportant, and when Percy asked him his opinion on something, Jason always felt that he was just being polite, or extending a courtesy. Now he realized how pressured Percy had been; when he had asked for Jason's help he had probably meant it.

Jason looked around, everybody looked completely miserable. Hazel had her head buried in Frank's shoulder, Piper's face was stained with tear tracks, Nico looked, if possible, more pale, and even Leo hadn't cracked a joke since breakfast, which meant he was really upset. He wished Percy and Annabeth were here to cheer everyone else up, Percy would accidentally say something stupid, Annabeth would make fun of him and he would flash her his trademark face that made him look like a hurt baby seal. Then Annabeth would punch him and everybody would laugh.

"So where do we go next?" Frank spoke up, breaking the depressing silence of the ship, "Camp Half-Blood or Greece?" Everybody looked expectantly at Jason. _Why me_, he thought, annoyed, _why not Hazel or Nico?_

"Um..." he hesitated, unsure of what to say. Piper noticed and, as always, came to his rescue.

"Why don't we decide in the morning?" She suggested, "it's been a long day, and I think everyone's a little tired." Jason was suddenly exhausted. He couldn't tell if she had used her charm-speak, or if the enormity of the day had finally hit him, but either way he was beat. He suddenly heard a huge _thud_, and he whirled around, pulling out his _gladius_, expecting another attack. Instead he saw a certain son of Hades passed out on the deck. Jason laughed, and sheathed his sword, as Hazel, who was fiercely protective of her recovering older brother, ran over to Nico, trying unsuccessfully to wake him.

"Nico…wake…up!" She said, punctuating each word with a slap.

"Hmmm?" He grunted, eyes still closed. "Where's the monster?" Everyone laughed, as Nico stood up slowly, regaining his bearings. "What are you all laughing about?" He asked, genuinely bewildered.

"You fell asleep in the middle of the meeting," Leo grinned, absentmindedly fiddling with two small wires. "Is Piper really _that _boring?"

Jason suddenly remembered the feeling of exhaustion that had hit him earlier, when Piper was talking. "It wasn't Nico's fault," he spoke up, "Piper was using charm-speak."

"What!" Piper cried, looking flustered, "I swear I didn't, I mean… I was just suggesting…"

"It's getting stronger," Jason interrupted, "your charm-speak I mean. You're using it subconsciously."

"But how is that possible?" Piper said, embarrassed, "how can I use it without trying to?"

"I'm not sure," Jason replied honestly, "why don't you ask Annab…" He trailed off, when he saw the look on Piper's face, he realized what he had said. _Why did he always have to mess everything up? How could he be careless enough to mention _them_? _Piper had this crazy idea that Percy and Annabeth's predicament was her fault. He had no idea what her reasoning was, but he knew she was really upset about it. Piper eyes filled with tears.

"I'm going to bed," she said, as she dashed below deck to her room, unsuccessfully trying to hide her tears. Hazel hurried after her, leaving the boys alone.

"I'll take first watch then," sighed Jason, even though it was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Don't bother," said Nico, "everyone's exhausted." Without another word, he bent forward, kneeling, and placed his palms on the ground. The deck around them shook, and an enormous fissure opened directly in front of Nico. A skeleton dressed in gladiator's armor emerged from the earth, fully armed and ready for battle. Everyone stood silently, stunned, and the fissure slammed shut with a everlasting _bang._

Frank, once again, broke the silence. "Umm, who is that?"

"James." Nico said, as if that cleared everything up. "Since he's a skeleton, so he doesn't need sleep. We can all get some rest."

"Dude, have I ever told you how creepy you are?" Leo asked, looking awestruck and scared at the same time. Nico noticed his expression and smiled eerily.

"I try."

Jason lay down in his bed, completely worn out. He hoped for at least a few hours of dreamless sleep, but the moment he closed his eyes the nightmares hit him.

_He was falling. Endlessly falling, and he was unable to stop. The air refused to bend to his will. Falling. The sensation was new to him. He was a son of Jupiter, he had always been able to "fly" by controlling the winds under his feet, but here he couldn't sense any winds. This was Tartarus, he realized, he was falling to Tartarus. He heard a small shriek off to his left, and saw two human figures, falling hand in hand. _

_Jason took a quick breath. It was Percy and Annabeth; this was what they were experiencing right now. He couldn't imagine what terrors they were going through. The air around them suddenly thickened, making it difficult to breathe. They were nearing the bottom he realized. He tried desperately to control the winds again to slow their fall, but in vain; some son of Jupiter he was. He watched, helplessly, as Percy and Annabeth picked up speed, hurtling towards the ground at a sickening rate. In the final seconds between the air and the ground, he saw Percy perk up. Jason suddenly knew what was going to happen before it did. Annabeth had told him about Percy's fatal flaw. Jason watched in horror, as Percy Jackson pulled himself under his girlfriend, sacrificing himself so that she could live. _

Jason woke to the ringing of alarm bells. He felt sick. Here he was, in his room sleeping, as Percy and Annabeth fell to their doom. He jumped out of bed, throwing on a t-shirt over his pajama pants, as he ran upstairs. He didn't know why the alarm was on, but whatever it was, it could't be good.

It wasn't good. Leo, Hazel, Frank, and Coach Hedge lay on the floor, unconscious. What had been James was scattered all over the deck, and the mast was on fire. Nico and Piper were desperately trying to hold off… a fire-breathing chihuahua?

"Chimera!" Piper yelled, diving out of the way of a blast of fire. As Jason watched, the "chihuahua" started to grow. It was one of the ugliest monsters he had ever seen; with the massive body of a goat, the lithe head of a lion, and a vicious, ten-foot long diamondback rattlesnake for a tail. The creature's mane was caked with blood, and its long teeth were wickedly sharp and ready to kill.

The chimera roared again, spewing flames left and right. Jason immediately shot into the air, narrowly avoiding the oncoming wall of fire. He slashed at the monster's left flank, but the resulting cut didn't phase the monster. The chimera's tail whipped around, and Jason rolled to his right, completely forgetting about the monster's fire-breathing maw. He realized his mistake too late, and the flames enveloped his left arm. The pain was like nothing Jason had ever felt before; this wasn't merely pain, it was white-hot agony. He struggled to remain conscious, his head pounding, and his vision tinged red. _We're all going to die, _he thought, _everyone's going to be killed because of a stupid chihuahua. _He couldn't just let Piper die. And what about Percy and Annabeth? They were counting on the others to meet them in Epirus. He couldn't just let them waste away in Tartarus.

With the last of his energy, he called upon the largest lighting bolt he could. The air buzzed with electricity, and a huge lighting bolt hit the chimera with tremendous force. It was by far the largest bolt he had ever summoned. The chimera didn't stand a chance, it exploded into monster dust the second the lightning struck. Jason was completely drained, he lost his control on the winds, plummeting towards the ship. He was vaguely aware of Piper screaming and calling out to him, but he was too exhausted to reply. He hit the deck with astounding force, crumpling to the ground as his leg flared with pain. As Piper stood over him, yelling at Nico for help, Jason remembered that the others knew nothing of his dream of Percy and Annabeth's plight.

"We have to go to Greece." He managed to choke out, before he was overcome by darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **

**(forgot to put this in the other chapters) Hopefully you know this by now_, _but I am not Rick Riordan, and I own absolutely nothing. Please review, I'm open to plot suggestions and I'll answer all the questions I can. **

**Piper**

Sometimes Piper hated being a demigod; sure, you can have cool powers, and get to go on "fun" quests, but demigods almost never had happy lives, and almost always had tragic endings. Take her love life for example. Right now, she was sitting in the infirmary of the Argo ||, next to her unconscious boyfriend Jason, who had third-degree burns on his left forearm, a broken right leg, and several fractured ribs; all from falling out of the sky after being attacked by a poisonous, fire-breathing chimera.

Piper had almost had a heart attack when she saw him falling out of the air. She hadn't see exactly what happened, but she thought he was dead; he certainly looked like it. Not until he hit the ground and let out a cry of pain did she realized she was alive. She had nearly fainted from relief, until her mind processed that he had given a_ cry of pain_. The Jason she knew would never, under any circumstances, let others see that he was in pain, unless it was unbearable. She had sprinted over to him, and he had mumbled something about having to go to Greece, but before she could ask him what he meant, he passed out.

Nico helped her carry Jason to the infirmary, and Piper had done her best to heal him, but it was something she had never excelled at. When he was as comfortable as possible, Piper went upstairs, to help Nico wake up the others, only to find that everyone else was already up. She had learned long ago to trust Jason, so she instructed Leo to set a course for Greece, and not to question it. Later they all exchanged stories of what had happened, and Frank was halfway through recounting his side of the story, when Jason let out a small groan. Piper was instantly by his side.

"Hey Jase," she said quietly, "do you feel okay?" He groaned again, slowly sitting up.

"I feel like I just got attacked by a fire-breathing chihuahua," he answered faintly, taking in his surroundings. "Not to be rude or anything, but why is everyone in here?"

"Because you almost died!" Piper exclaimed, "and because we were worried about you."

"I'm sorry I worried you," he told her softly, "but I'm fine, really." Suddenly a look of panic flashed over his face, as if he remembered something. "We have to go to Greece." He sounded alarmed, "Percy and Annabeth, they're in trouble!"

"We're already on the way," Leo spoke up, "beauty queen over here, made us switch course." Jason did not look relieved at all.

"How long until we get there, Leo?" he asked, sounding as if he dreaded the answer.

"Six days or so," Leo replied, looking extremely confused, "with no delays or detours that is."

"We have to contact them now," said Jason forcefully, as he tried to get out of bed.

"Jason, just stop for a second," spoke Hazel, seriously, "what's going on?"

Jason looked up at her solemnly, "It's Percy, he's…"

"Dying," interrupted Nico, "His life source is weakening. I can feel it." All at once, the room erupted.

"Percy's dying?!"

"Why didn't you tell us?!"

What happened to him?!"

"SHUT UP!" yelled Piper, tears streaming down her face, "we can find out what happened later," she said, glaring pointedly at Jason, "but we need to contact them to see if we can help at all."

"But Tartarus is outside the God's realm, like Alaska," stated Frank, "Iris can't send iris messages there."

"What if," questioned Hazel, "we send an IM without Iris." Understanding seemed to dawn on Frank.

"Fleecy?" he asked.

"Fleecy," confirmed Hazel.

"Who's Fleecy?" Leo asked, speaking everyone's unvoiced question.

"A cloud nymph," informed Hazel, "she works at the R.O.F.L., the Rainbow Organic Foods and Lifestyles. On our quest to Alaska, Percy…" her voice broke, "Percy was really sick. It was from being to close to Polybotes, the anti-Poesidon giant. Anyway, we found the store, and went in to find help for him, Fleecy gave as food and supplies. She also gave us a 'direct line,' for a Iris Messages so we didn't have to wait so long to get through to Iris."

"Hazel," Piper spoke up, "you're a genius. Now, who has a drachma?" All eyes turned to Leo.

"Fine," he said, reluctantly pulling the golden coin out of his pocket, "what is it, Everybody Picks on Leo Day?" he added, trying to lighten the mood. Piper smiled despite herself.

"Yep. Now hurry up and give Hazel the drachma, repair boy," she teased. Leo quickly handed Hazel the coin, and she turned to the small fountain in the corner of the room.

"O' Fleecy," started Hazel, "do me a solid, show me Percy Jackson." Nothing happened at first, and Piper began to doubt that Hazel's plan would even work, until, suddenly, an image appeared.

The image was dark and unfocused, but the figure in it was unmistakably Percy Jackson. Percy looked terrible, his face was pale and his hair tangled. His t-shirt was torn to shreds, and he was laying flat on his back, staring at the black obsidian landscape that surrounded him.

"Percy!" yelled Piper, trying to get his attention. He looked over at the sound of her voice, and his eyes widened in shock.

"Piper…Hazel…Jason...? Geez, Jason what happened to you?" He asked, looking genuinely concerned,"are you all right? You look like you got run over by a fire-breathing bus."

"I'm fine," Jason laughed, "but what about you? You're the one in Tartarus."

Percy cracked a smile, "Never better."

"You're not hurt at all?" asked Hazel, glaring fixedly at Nico.

"Nope, not a scratch," Percy grinned, "you guys sound like my mom."

Piper suddenly realized something, Percy was alone. _Alone_. As in _without Annabeth_.

"Where's Annabeth?" She asked, fearing the worst. Percy's grin faltered.

"I'm… I'm not exactly sure," he said, struggling to keep a calm face. "I've been calling for her, but she can't hear me. Could you guys IM her and tell her where I am?"

"Sure…" said Piper slowly. Something about the whole conversation felt off to her, but she couldn't figure out what. Whatever it was, Jason had noticed too.

"Percy," he asked, cautiously, "why are you still lying down?" Percy froze momentarily, looking like a deer in headlights, but the expression was gone in a matter of seconds.

"It's…I'm…really comfortable," Percy lied, not so smoothly. His body was relaxed and resigned, like he had already given up. His sea green eyes looked lost, and were full of sorrow and pain. The look scared Piper, the optimistic Percy she knew would never look like that.

"Percy," she said sternly, lacing her words with powerful charmspeak, "tell us now."

"I… I can't sit up," he confessed guiltily, his resolve crumbling under her influencing words, "and I can't move my legs," he added quietly.

"You can't _move_ and you didn't _tell_ us!" Jason exploded. Suddenly, the severity of what Percy was saying hit her. The image was too dark for her to tell for sure, but Piper knew what it had to mean. She hoped she was wrong, but deep down she knew she wasn't.

"Look, I'm sorry," Percy said softly, and for the first time Piper noticed how weak his voice sounded. "But I'm kinda going crazy not being able to go look for Annabeth. What if she's hurt?"

"Fine, I'll IM her," Piper relented. Annabeth deserved to know what had happened to her boyfriend.

Piper swiped her hand through the mist, instantly breaking the connection. Frank was the first to speak.

"Did you see that look in his eyes," he said, obviously alarmed, "how long has he been like that?" It was a rhetorical question, but Jason answered anyway.

"Since this morning," he whispered. "I had a dream, I…I watched him hit the ground," he added, eyes downcast. Piper knew he was blaming himself, and that nothing she said or did would convince him otherwise, but she tried anyway.

"It wasn't your fault Jason," she said as persuasively as she could. He merely nodded, and Piper felt slightly guilty about tricking him, but she could tell that he felt relieved. "Now who has another drachma?" Leo didn't protest this time, not after witnessing the way she had charmed Percy and Jason, and another wave of guilt washed over her.

"O' Fleecy," began Hazel again, "do me another solid, show me Annabeth Chase."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hazel**

"O' Fleecy," began Hazel again, "do me another solid, show me Annabeth Chase." Hazel found herself holding her breath as soon as the words were out of her mouth. W_hat if Annabeth was in a worse situation then Percy? Who would help them then? _Suddenly the image in front of them started to shimmer, and Hazel let out a sigh of relief. Annabeth lay curled up against a large obsidian rock, completely unharmed excluding a shallow cut on her forearm. She was unconscious, and Hazel wondered how they were going to wake her, but Piper solved the problem for her.

"Annabeth wake up!" she said forcefully. Her words weren't very loud, but Annabeth shot awake anyway. Jason was right, Hazel decided, Piper's charm-speak was definitely getting stronger.

"Piper? Hazel? Nico?" Annabeth's reaction was almost the same as Percy's. "What are you guys doing here?" Hazel hated herself for doing it, but she got straight to the point.

"Percy's in trouble." Annabeth's face drained of color.

"Oh my gods, what happened? The last thing I remember is hitting something soft and then rolling down the hill…" her voice trailed off, as she came to a realization. "Percy cushioned my fall didn't he?" Her voice was a whisper, and the corner of her eyes glistened with tears. "Where is he?" When no one immediately answered, her voice grew louder. "Hazel...where…is...he!" _Great, _thought Hazel, tears forming in her eyes, _when did _I _become the official bearer of bad news?_

_"_Just up the hill," she replied, trying to keep her tears in check. Annabeth didn't waste any time, she sprinted up the hill the second the words were out of Hazel's mouth. Thankfully the iris message followed her, but the image was blurred because of how fast Annabeth was moving. By the time it refocused on the top of the hill, she was already by Percy's side.

Hazel gasped when she saw Percy, they had only been gone for a couple of minutes, but his condition was already much worse. His face looked grey, and his breathing was loud and labored, as if each breath caused him pain. Annabeth was by Percy's side, unsuccessfully trying to help him to sit up, somehow looking furious and heartbroken at the same time. She placed her hands under Percy's back, and started to push him into a sitting position. Percy screamed in pain, a loud animalistic noise that scared Hazel to death. Annabeth quickly withdrew her hands, as if she had been scalded, her hands covered in blood. Percy fell back to the floor, shaking and gasping for breath. It broke Hazel's heart to see Percy like this, she could only imagine how Annabeth was feeling.

"Percy, you…your... back is broken," stuttered Annabeth, tears flowing freely down her face. "Seaweed Brain, I'm so, so sorry, this is all my fault. If I…"

"No." Percy interrupted in a stern voice. The strength of his words surprised Hazel, she had no idea where he was getting the energy to talk from. "I made a choice," he continued, "I don't regret it. I love you Annabeth." Percy closed his eyes, his breathing so slow it almost impossible to detect.

All of a sudden, Hazel's vision went black, and she felt her legs collapse from under her, as she hit the floor with a thud. Suddenly she wasn't on the Argo || anymore, she was somewhere else entirely.

_Hazel woke up in a meadow, lying on a bed of soft, green grass. _Where am I? _thought Hazel, sitting up. The sky was the beautiful orange hue of a sunset, yet she could see no sun. Off to her left she caught a brief glimpse of a glowing wisp of light, and she jumped to her feet, staring at it as it shot away. She had no idea what if was, but her instincts told her to follow it. _

_The wisp darted up a hill, its entrancing silvery blue-green color fading as it neared the top. Hazel felt a growing sense of dread as the light grew dimmer and dimmer; she felt as if she had some weird connection to the wisp, she didn't want it to go wisp made its way over the crest of the hill, heading directly for the approaching cliff. Hazel gasped as she caught sight of the land directly below them. _

_The valley was dark and desolate, the grass lonely and dead, reminding her of the Fields of Asphodel. She couldn't let the wisp go _there_, she was sure that nothing could survive _there. _The moment before the wisp pitched itself off of the cliff, Hazel lunged for it, shocked by how cold it was when her hands made contact. The wisp wrenched itself desperately towards the precipice, but she was determined not to let it go. After a couple minutes of struggling, the frantic pulling finally subsided, and the wisp vanished in Hazel's hands. The moment it was gone her vision went black again, and again she collapsed onto the ground. _

Hazel woke up with a terrible headache. She was lying in the infirmary, completely alone excluding Jason, who lay in the bed next to hers. "What happened?" she asked, sitting up, her head still pounding. Suddenly the prior events of the day all rushed back to her, and her headache intensified. "Oh my gods, Percy! Is he okay?"

"He's fine," reassured Jason.

"Wait, what do you mean?" asked Hazel, confused. "What happened?"

"You saved him," said Nico, walking in with the others, carrying plates of food. "He was dying, but you saved him." Hazel opened her mouth and then closed it again. "It's a gift of Pluto," he continued, seeing the questions on her face, "only children of Pluto possess it, Hades would never save a soul from his or her fate. Pluto's far more generous than he is," he added sourly.

"Wait a second," said Hazel, incredulous, "you're saying that _I_ can heal people?"

"Well only when their life aura is almost completely drained, and they're practically half-dead," clarified Nico, nonchalantly, "but in a nutshell, yes."

"Oh," said Hazel, waiting a moment for his words to sink in, "Sorry I can't help you then Jason," she said, trying to lighten the mood. Jason scowled, and Piper smiled to herself, taking his hand.

"It's not that bad!" he exclaimed indignantly. Leo snorted.

"Yeah, it's _only _a couple of fractured ribs and a broken leg," mocked Leo, "it's no big deal at all."

_"_Well, we still could have eaten upstairs, I'm not too hurt to walk up some steps," said Jason stubbornly.

"Well why don't you keep that in mind next time you're attacking a fire-breathing, poisonous monster by yourself." Suggested Piper innocently, "or just _not do it at all!" _Jason still looked unconvinced, and Piper looked to Hazel for backup.

"You know she's right Jason," Hazel put in, remembering a story Percy had told her back at camp, "the Chimera is dangerous, it almost killed you today, and it almost killed Percy a few years ago. Anything that can almost beat you two is definitely trouble."

Frank stared at her, astounded. "Percy fought the chimera too?"

"Yeah, when he was twelve," spoke up Nico, who was the most familiar with the story. "He got hit by its tail, and was blasted out of the St. Louis Arch before he could kill it. The only reason he didn't die was because he landed in the Mississippi River and water heals him. He'll be really happy to know someone finally killed it if he gets out of Tartarus."

"_When _he gets out of Tartarus," corrected Hazel, her voice full of a confidence she didn't have.


End file.
